A MOTHER-TO-BE made a pit stop at a petrol station - to give birth. Fiona Impey delivered her own baby as her boyfriend was driving her to hospital.

Miss Impey and her boyfriend Mark Bruce were rushing from their home in Round Street, Cobham, to Maidstone Hospital when she realised she was giving birth. Miss Impey, 36, said: "I was in the front seat with my feet up on the dashboard. I kept seeing all these cars and lorries going past looking at me. It is all a bit of a blur. I didn't have time to take it in."

Mr Bruce, realising what was happening, rushed to get them to hospital as quickly as possible. Then his girlfriend started losing her grip on the baby. He pulled in to the Shell petrol station on Blue Bell Hill, near Chatham, and ran around to the other side of the car and grabbed his daughter.

The couple made sure the baby was healthy and warned the hospital they were on their way. When they arrived at the hospital, nurses were in the car park ready to cut the cord and deal with the afterbirth before taking the baby girl off to an incubator. She was healthy and weighed 7lb 15oz.

Miss Impey added: "The maternity trousers I was wearing worked wonders. I managed to keep them on and maintain my dignity throughout."

The couple have called their daughter Maia. They have since learnt her name means to do everything at high speed.